The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-12-24

hand was SO benumbed that had TO drop the
stick. Mind You, all this time. the fire was
roaring and cracking.
Well at last the night wore away and about
o'clock, guess it was, got up. didn't have
TO dress, though, but just slipped on my big
buffalo shoes and made for the minimum Their
mometer There the alcohol spirit was on the
one-tenth line below the 62 degree mark. When
warm me up a little, as knew that no other
thermometer but mine had ever gone SO low ex-
cept in arctic exploration That remarkable de-
gree OF cold was reached just about sunrise L
never saw the air so clear as 1t was that morn
ing The atmosphere itself seemed frozen,
and my eye could further down the
had before. There was not g sound
to break the stiffness, and felt like the arctic
explorer who stands in the silence of the eternal
SHOWS. The only thing that bound me to civlli-
cation was the smoke that came up from the
distant army post. for United States troops are
stationed there to watch the Indians That day
the temperature rose to about 80 below, and
four days later it rained. In those four days
the range was 100 degrees, the greatest range
ever recorded"
'.Was any lower temperature ever recordedP
''Yes, but only in the arctic regions, by
Greedy, and his lowest reading only nine
tenths of a degree lower than mine. Mt. Wash
ington, which is considered the coolest place In
the United States, has recorded as low as 42.2
degrees 1t is hard to conceive the cold getting
much intenser than felt it that morning"
well, should say, broke in Observer Gray,
who. being fresh from his entrance examina-
tion was able to add: '.Loomis SAYS that the
temperature of interplacetary space is only 81
degrees below
ibid many persons freeze 20 death that
night"
mo. AS the cold had been increasing stead
lily for a week, everybod was prepared for it.
cold that the usual guard duty WAS done that
night The Indians of course, suffer most
Trey seem to be starving and freezing all the
time up there in cold weather. They haven't
the least idea of how to dress. and they soon
find that their breech-clouts and loose blanket
IS little protection against cold that freezes
mercury"
What is the usual clothing worn there in the
winterl"
well, used to wear an ordinary flannel
shirt next to the skin. then a very heavy wooden
shirt over that, and then vest and coat of I'M
usual thickness. That is, around a fire. OF
course, when people leave a fire and travel
mile or two. they pile many overcoats on as
they can. Il Is quite amusing sometimes on a
40 day to see men come IN from some distance
down the prairie and take off the layers of over
coats. Over everything the buffalo
10 standing the cold. l do not see
what the people will do up there when the
supply of buffalo gives out Why. the govern
ment distributes to the soldiers buffalo coats,
musk-rat caps and buffalo shoes. The lower ex-
tremities clad in double thickness of wool.
Most frequently the soldiers JUST take their
army blankets, fold them double and make
them into drawers. Over these come the heavi-
pants obtain ble and the lower ends
tucked into thick German stockings, they
call them, one-fourth inch thick. Over these
pulled on the buffalo shoes, and often pair
Of loose Arctic overshoes is added"
The cattle perish in such cold do they notr'
mo, indeed, they don't mind clear still. cold
They get into the canyons and stay there till it
gets warmer. What plays havoc with the cattle
is the blizzard. That drives them into frenzy
of fear and pain. At Poplar river which is
fifty miles west of the Dakota line and fifty
miles south of the British possessions, there is
no timber except a little patch on either side OF
St,a Oh .,,S1
1t is awful thing TO look across those prairies
and see nothing but sweeping mass Of snow,
worse than any sand-storm that. ever caught the
caravans. Before one of these billiards herd
of cattle will be driven like a ship before a
gale. There is no stopping them, and
they plunge TIL they drop
by blindly find shelter It is some
thing horrible to SIT in ones house in the isola-
tion of the storm and hear in the distance the
rumble of a herd sweeping on like chaff before
the wind. You couldn't them if they
were only block away, so impenetrabe is the
sheet of flying snow. Another danger to cattle
is drowning in drinking. When herd comes
to drinkine-hole in the river, all the animals
crowd around until they make such a great
weight that the ice gives way and the whole
herd goes in"
''Whar is the principal food in that American
Greenland"
Beef, the finest in the land too There is no
beef quoted higher than the Montana beef. They
get all they want of it up there, and that, no
doubt, is one reason the cold eau be withstood.
The only vegetables eaten canned, as the
railroad Is 200 miles from there, and there can
be no transportation in such weather"
do they warm up much on liquorg'
mo. there is very little drinking when auv
outdoor business has 20 be done in the coolest
weather. The oid-timers have all come to I'M
derstand that the time to take any liquor is after
being out. not before"
lyon, of course, were accustomed to cold all
your lifeF
ION the contrary, l was raised in Alabama
and had never beer north of that State till in
Dece ber 1883 was sent to Poplar river.
But got along well the others. In fact
met many Southern bred persons up there and
they didn't seem to be any more affected than
those who come from the North
Mr.. Garden object of great awe among
the Indians, who called him ''Muzzapopper-
meaning chief man who talks on iron
A BOOM THAT Is "BUSTED.